FONTANA -- Councilman Michael Tahan wants better relationships between the city and the school board.

To accomplish that, Tahan is campaigning to establish a council ad hoc subcommittee that would work with a like group from the Fontana Unified School District board.

"Over time, the relationship between city council and the FUSD board has deteriorated," Tahan wrote in an email Tuesday night to members of both panels.

"Let's not wait for a catastrophe to bring us together in this community," he said in an interview Wednesday.

The idea seems to have general support among both school board and council members.

"Absolutely, I'm for it," Councilman John Roberts said Wednesday. "Anytime, you can create a more cooperative atmosphere between two governing bodies, that can be very productive."

"This is great," said school board member Lorena Corona. "Partnerships are key. We are all concerned about the welfare of our children and want to create an atmosphere where they can be successful."

"We have a number of issues to discuss," Tahan wrote in his email. "These include the after-school program, joint use agreements and improving lines of communication.

"We, the mayor and the city council, as well as Fontana Unified School District board members, are all here to serve our Fontana Kids."

Mayor Acquanetta Warren said that several years ago there was a council ad hock subcommittee that met with school board officials, but with the demise of redevelopment funding and other issues, that committee has fallen by the wayside.

At the end of Tuesday night's council meeting, Warren asked City Manager Ken Hunt to huddle with Fontana Unified Superintendent Cali Olsen-Binks about how the committees Tahan suggested might function.

Warren said she favors reactivating the subcommittee.

Tahan's proposal is likely to be an agenda item for the Jan. 22 council meeting.

A rift between City Hall and some school board members occurred last year over the quality of the school district's after-school program, which is run by the city.

Fallout from that discussion is one reason cited for a recall campaign targeting school board members Leticia Garcia and Sophia Green.

Garcia said she thought Tahan's idea was a "great gesture" but thinks it would more effective to expand the conversation to include all members of both panels.

"Everybody should be working together in public meetings and workshops," she said.

Corona and Roberts said those kinds of meetings might be appropriate but a starting point should be a smaller ad hoc committee.

Garcia said the community wants to see both panels working more closely together.

Corona said a smaller group is needed to establish goals and objectives.

School board President Gus Hawthorn called Tahan's idea "a good possibility."

"It's been done before and worked well," he said. "I would argue with the statement that the relationship between the school district and the city has deteriorated."

Green said she is perplexed "and leery of Councilman Tahan's motive to extend an olive branch after coming to the school board meeting several times to attack me during the public comments.